March 31, 2014 – Department of City Planning Director Carl Weisbrod today announced the appointment of Anita Laremont as General Counsel of the Department of City Planning. Laremont most recently was a partner in the law firm of Harris Beach PLLC, where she had a real estate, land use law and government agency practice. Prior to joining Harris Beach, Laremont served for more than sixteen years as General Counsel of the Empire State Development Corporation, New York State’s primary economic development entity, where she was involved with numerous economic development and land use projects in New York City and throughout the state.

“Anita Laremont has a stellar record with an extensive background in public service, private real estate practice and land use law,” said City Planning Director Weisbrod. “She has proven time and again that she is a capable and adept leader through her involvement with several transformative economic development initiatives. Projects that she has helped facilitate range from the 42nd Street Development and Columbia Manhattanville in Manhattan to Brooklyn Bridge Park. She also helped attract a Silicon Valley chip fabrication manufacturer to an Albany suburb that fostered a new high-tech corridor in the region. Anita is not only an outstanding lawyer, but also a wise, experienced and trusted advisor. I am confident she will provide superb guidance as City Planning’s General Counsel.”

Laremont also has served as a Trustee of the Citizens Budget Commission, and as Co-Chair of its Economic Development Committee. She is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the State Bar and the American Bar Association. Among a number of board affiliations, she currently serves as First Vice-Chair and Chair of the Development Committee at Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Gardens in Staten Island where she resides. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Mount Holyoke College, and is a graduate of the New York University School of Law, where she was a Root Tilden Scholar.

Laremont said, “I welcome the opportunity to provide counsel to the City Planning Department and Commission. Among the planning and land use challenges facing the City, perhaps the most immediate is the development of an affordable housing plan, a signature initiative of Mayor de Blasio. I am excited to be a part of the administration's efforts to address the needs of New York’s diverse communities, which is essential to ensuring the City’s continued growth and preeminence. I am hopeful that my experience in real estate development, land use and economic development will prove useful to advancing these goals.”